They Made My Life Into A Movie
by a.k.a.-ashley
Summary: He comes home with flowers. White lillies wrapped carefully in paper, tied up neatly with pretty ribbon. The smile on his face is telling, like that of a little boy with a secret too exciting to keep for himself. LP. AU 6x08


**They Made My Life Into A Movie, As If I Could Forget Those Years**

_My own version of how 6x08 and the Julian story should have gone._

He comes home with flowers. White lillies wrapped carefully in paper, tied up neatly with pretty ribbon. The smile on his face is telling, like that of a little boy with a secret too exciting to keep for himself.

"What's going on?" She asks, drying her hands on a dish towel, pots and pans simmering behind her.

"Someone wants to make An Unkindness of Ravens into a movie." He says slowly, as if he's still trying to process it all himself. He grabs a beer from the fridge and sits at the kitchen table, watching her move around the small space, a perfect sliver of tanned skin peeking out from the gap between her jeans and her tank top.

"God, Luke, that's amazing."

"This producer tracked me down on his way back to Los Angeles, we had a meeting right there in my office about me signing on to adapt the screenplay. I just got off the phone with my agent, he thinks I should sign, but I wanted to talk to you first."

"Luke, this is your book, if you want to do it then you should."

"I know, but this isn't just about me, this is your story too. And we're getting married, and I want to make these decisions with you. I'm meeting him tomorrow for drinks, come with us, listen to what he has to say, and then we can decide, together."

"Ok." She says, crossing their tiny kitchen to sit on his lap. She runs a hand through the closely cropped hair on his scalp, and kisses him sweetly on the lips. "I'm so proud of you babe."

"I think we should celebrate."

"I already made dinner."

"That is not the type of celebrating I was talking about." He whispers against the exposed skin of her collarbone, his fingers tangling in the soft hair near the nape of her neck. She kisses him again, titling his head back and pressing her lips hard against his, before he stands suddenly, wrapping her legs around his waist, and carrying her towards the bedroom.

*

"Luke?" She whispers, propping herself up on an elbow, a thin sheet draped loosely across her bare torso. He grunts a response with his eyes still closed, trapped somewhere between sleep and a restful state of bliss. "Lucas?" She whispers again, with a sing-song lilt in her voice that finally makes him open his eyes.

"Let me rest a few more minutes, and then we can go again." She looks over at him, her mouth agape and sees him smile, his profile backlit by the moon coming in through the windows.

"I think we should talk about this movie Luke."

"Ok." He says, pulling himself up to lean against the headboard. "Let's talk."

"I've been thinking about this whole thing, and I don't know if it's such a good idea." She looks up at him, and he nods slowly. "I mean, what if Kate Bosworth gets cast as the movie version of Peyton Sawyer? I don't need you running off with your dream girl before we even get married."

He laughs from beside her, a big hearty laugh that makes her smile. "Come on now, Kate Bosworth can't hold a candle to my girl."

She pulls in tighter to his side, resting her head on his chest, his fingers trailing lazy runs across her forearm. "This could be good for us. It's a lot of money. We could pay for the wedding, maybe travel for a while, take an extended honeymoon on a beach somewhere far away from here."

"That would be nice" She exhales slowly, pulling her body on top of his. She kisses his neck, making a slow trail to his lips. "Hey Luke?"

He grunts something in reply, his fingers stroking delicately up her back.

"Let's go again." She whispers in his ear, laughing when his body suddenly springs to life.

*

It's a slow night at Tric, open pool tables and a quiet jukebox. They sit at the bar, sipping whiskey and cokes, waiting for Julian to arrive. He's nervous, his foot bouncing hurriedly against the rung of his bar stool. She leans forward and kisses him, tasting the sweet syrup of cola on his lips.

Something catches his eye, over the top of her head. "That's Julian." He says, raising his arm and waving someone over. When she turns and spots the approaching figure, her heart sinks deep into her stomach. She recognizes the expensive haircut, the tailored suit jacket, that self-assured smirk. Julian Beckett. She should have known, because this is how her life works.

She left things badly in LA, and she wonders for a moment if he's here to get some sort of revenge, to fuck with her life just a little bit, but the look on his face tells her otherwise. He's just as surprised to see her.

Lucas stands and shakes Julian's hand, then gestures towards her. She hears him call her his fiancee, but everything else is drowned out by her heart pulsing loudly in her ears. She shakes Julian's hand, dropping it too quickly. He's staring at her, a little too intently and she hopes that Lucas doesn't notice, but he does.

"Do you two know each other?" He asks.

"Yeah." Julian answers. Peyton looks over at him, her eyes pleading with him to not act like himself, just this once. He smirks at her. "I mean I feel like I know her, the famous Peyton Sawyer from your novel. I thought I heard through the industry rumor mill that the Lucas and Peyton from the book never got their happy ending in real life?"

"They got a second chance." Lucas smiles, and brushes his fingers against hers, reassuring and gentle.

Luke's cell phone rings, and he glances at the caller id. "It's my agent." He says. "I need to take this. I'll be right back." He kisses her forehead and heads towards the quiet of her upstairs office.

"I need a smoke." Julian says suddenly, avoiding her eyes and pushing himself off the bar. He heads through the bar towards the exit in the back alley. Peyton hesitates before following him out.

He's leaning against the building, inhaling deeply off a cigarette, the end of which glows brightly in the dark alleyway. "What are you doing here Julian?"

"I came to win you back." He exhales slowly, smirking out of the side of his mouth. She gives him a look, one that's equal parts displeasure and annoyance, and he loses the grin. "I didn't know you were together, he told me he had to talk to his fiancee, he never called you by name."

"This movie, it's important to him. And I don't want what happened between us in the past to ruin this."

"I kind of can't believe you took him back, after what he did to you in LA, leaving you in that hotel room."

"It's none of your business Julian."

"Fine, but this movie is my business, and Lucas' story could make us all a lot of money. His book is really good." He looks up at her, shrugging his shoulders almost ashamed of what he will say next. "It's a really beautiful love story. The audience will eat it up."

She notices the moment of vulnerability in his eyes, something she never saw in the two months they knew each other. "I'm sorry if I hurt you when I ended things."

"Nah," he says, dropping his cigarette on the ground and stubbing it out with the tip of his expensive Italian boot. "there were plenty of other girls to take my mind off of you."

"Always the charmer." She steps closer to him and slaps him lightly on the face, just enough to sting.

*

She finds him in her office, sitting behind her desk, finishing up his phone call. He smiles at her, his grin slow and lazy from the earlier round of drinks. She crosses her office and sits on the edge of her desk, her feet dangling underneath her.

"What did you think of Julian?"

"I have to talk to you about something."

"What is it?"

"I knew Julian in LA."

"Knew him how?"

"We had a relationship, after you and I broke up. It only lasted a few months, it wasn't serious."

She watches his body language change. His shoulders tense, and his jaw clenches tight the way it always does when he's angry. "So what was it? A bunch of one night stands thrown together over the course of two months?"

"I really don't think you're being fair."

"I'm not being fair? You just told me you had sex with the guy who wants to turn my book into a movie." He stands from his chair suddenly, sending it backwards across the open expanse of her office.

"You don't get to do this Lucas, you don't get to be angry about a random relationship I had after we were broken up and living on opposite ends of the country."

"I get to be angry if your past comes to town wanting to buy the rights to my book. Did he come for the book, or did he come here for you?"

"Oh yeah, he came for me. We're running away together."

"It's not funny Peyton." He says, walking away from her. She follows on his heels.

"It happened in the past, Lucas." She bites back.

"God, why did it have to be him?" He raises his voice, in a way that reminds her of that night in this space, when he said she'd never believed in him, and she'd thrown a stack of books at him. She watches him pace the room, his hand on his hips, pouting like a little boy, and she wishes she had something else to throw at him.

"You're being irrational." She says, the anger in her voice unmistakable.

"I'm not doing the movie." He says suddenly, folding his arms across his chest.

"Now you're being an ass. You won't even work with someone I slept with four years ago even though it's an amazing opportunity for you, but you expected me to be friends with Lindsey? You invited me to your wedding Lucas."

"This is different."

"No actually, it's not. The only difference is that I never tried to marry Julian to get over you." She grabs her purse, and heads out of her office, stopping just before she pulls open the heavy iron door. "I'm staying at Brooke's tonight."

"Peyton?" He calls after her, but she's already gone.

*

"So Luke's pissed?"

"Oh yeah." She says, draining the last bit of wine from her glass.

"Well, he does have every right to be." Off Peyton's glare, Brooke smirks. "I mean, the guy ditches you in a hotel room, hooks up with his editor, almost marries her, and you had the nerve to sleep with someone else while you were no longer together. You slut." She mutters under her breath. Peyton laughs, but the smile never reaches her eyes.

"So P. Sawyer, are you going to tell me about this Julian guy or am I going to have to get you another bottle of wine so you can drunkenly spill it a little later?"

"I met him at a bar two days after the hotel room incident. He was charming and cute and I was on the rebound and more than a little drunk. It lasted two months, he wanted it to be more serious, I just wanted someone to take my mind off of Lucas. Turns out he was sleeping with like two other girls, so it all worked out anyway. Now he's back and wants to make this movie, and you know the rest." Peyton sighs, running her hands across her face. "The truth is, Julian is good at what he does, he could make this movie."

"And that is why Luke will get over it, and make the right choice." Brooke finishes her wine and wraps her arm around Peyton's shoulder. "Now can we please talk about my problems, namely the fifteen year old smart ass living in your old room"

*

She can't sleep. She's stretched out on Brooke's couch, watching the fan spin slowly overhead, a blanket tangled around her legs, her watch ticking loudly in the overwhelming silence. She wants to be home, in their bed, her body curled into his side, breathing in the reassuring scent of his skin. She wants this night to be over, and for them to be okay. Her watch ticks away another hour, then two, and everything remains silent. Eventually her eyelids grow heavy from the two bottles of wine, and the slow surrender to sleep eventually becomes too great a temptation to resist.

She feels a hand on her wrist, and it pulls her suddenly from sleep. She sees him then, crouched low on his knees in front of the couch, whispering something she can't quite make out.

"Luke, what are you doing here?" She says, sleep heavy in her voice.

"I couldn't sleep." He whispers to her while his fingers run trails through her hair. "I'm sorry, for the things I said and for the way I acted. I was jealous and angry, and I had no right to be."

Peyton sits up on the couch, and pulls her knees to her chest. "Whatever I had with Julian, you are the only one who has ever had this." When she reaches for his hand and places it over her heart, he smiles.

"I'm really sorry Peyt, for everything" He whispers.

"I know. I am too." She makes room on the couch, and he sits next to her, leaning over to kiss her softly, his fingers trailing down her neck.

"I'm gonna do the movie."

"What made you change your mind?"

"You, mostly." He smiles. "This whole movie deal was about the money at first, enough for the wedding and to travel, live comfortably for a while. But then it became about something else. I kept picturing the first time we ever locked eyes, when you almost ran me over with that damn car. I was trying to picture what it would look like onscreen, what music would be playing and then I realized why this movie was so important to me. It's us, our story, immortalized onscreen forever. For us, and one day for our kids. That's the only thing that matters to me Peyt, not Julian, not my past or yours. Just us."

"Just us, and the kids apparently." She smirks.

"Yeah well, someday at least." He smiles, boyish and shy, like he's been caught in a secret. She wants to kiss him them, so she does, soft and reassuring, her arm wrapped around his neck, pulling him close.

"Let's go home." She whispers.


End file.
